Category: Swords and Spaceships

The SFF Sequels I’m Thankful For

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 24, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and we’re continuing on with the November of the Sequels: two new sequels, and two sequels that I was thankful to read this year. I hope if you’re in the US, you had a wonderful turkey day and are having as peaceful a Black Friday as possible. (And if you work in retail…I’m sorry.) Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

We’re here to enrich your reading life! Get to know the world of books and publishing better with a subscription to The Deep Dive, Book Riot’s staff-written publication delivered directly to your inbox. Find a guide to reading logs and trackers, hear about why the bestseller list is broken, analyze some anticipated books, and more from our familiar in-house experts. Get a free subscription for weekly content delivered to your inbox, or upgrade to paid-for bonus content and community features connecting you to like-minded readers.

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.

Bookish Goods

Cat Bookmarks by LeChatQuBulle

These bookmarks are super cute, are made from recycled cardboard, and they come in different sizes! They’re the kind that sort of clip on to your page so it looks like the cats are peering over the book at you, too. $3

New Releases

The Crimson Fortress by Akshaya Raman

Sequel to The Ivory Key.

The royal siblings Vira, Ronak, Kaleb, and Riya are the closest they’ve ever been to restoring the stability and magic of their kingdom, but while they have attained the fabled ivory key, they cannot figure out the cipher. This new mission scatters them across the land and directly into danger. But the only way they will succeed in their quest is how they began it: together.

Saevus Corax Captures the Castle by K. J. Parker

Saevus Corax maybe isn’t the best boss in the world, but he’d do anything to keep his employees in his battlefield salvage company alive. So when he has to capture an entire castle to keep his men from getting killed, he faces that task head-on…and utilizes some very unconventional tactics.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Since it’s Thanksgiving, here are a couple of books I’m thankful for — it’s been a rough year, and these helped me make it through.

Cassiel’s Servant by Jacqueline Carey

Technically, this book is just kind of a retelling of Kushiel’s Dart, but it’s from Josceline’s point of view, and he is peak Oblivious Boy for a lot — honestly, let’s just say all — of the book. I love it. I cannot wait for the next book, where we get to see his emotional crisis from the inside.

Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse

This was the first book I read this year, and I could not wait to get started on it because I loved the first book, Black Sun, so very much. Rebecca Roanhorse never misses, and I cannot wait for the third book of the series to land in my hot little hands!!

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

A Month of Sequels

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 20, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got some new releases for you and a couple of recent sequels. November is shaping up to be the month of sequels and later series books, so prepare to be reminded that some series you enjoyed aren’t over quite yet! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Bookish Goods

Metal Serotonin Bookends by BlackDecoration

I’m in the market for bookends these days — or will be soon once my bookshelves and books are delivered from storage — so I’ve been looking. These ones have serotonin molecules because couldn’t we all use a bit more of that this time of year…$75

New Releases

The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird by Louisa Morgan

Ever since she was a child, Beatrice Bird was haunted by ghosts. Unfortunately, this ability has only become stronger with time, to the point that the ghosts can now interact with her physically, whether she likes it or not. Trying to find an escape from the ghosts, she decamps from San Francisco to leave her partner and psychology practice behind and heads to a small, isolated island that promises to have only a few cows and nuns as residents. There, she finds a mystery that her ability could potentially solve…but the ghosts are only darker and more violent.

Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Sequel to Son of the Storm

After their traumatic escape from Bassa, Lilong and Danso are hiding among a colony of vagabonds at the edge of the Red Emperor’s reach. But there is a bounty on their heads, and Lilong is determined to return the ibor heirloom she liberated to her people, which will involve a long and dangerous journey.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

November seems to be a month of a lot of sequels, so here are two from previous weeks that we missed!

Nightbane by Alex Aster

Sequel to Lightlark

After breaking the curses of six realms and securing the love of two powerful rulers, Isla Crown finds that she would rather spend her time in Lightlark’s haunts instead of dealing with being the leader of two realms. However, no one is interested in letting her have power peacefully, and plenty think she hasn’t earned her place. As secrets from her past unravel, she must choose between responsibilities she doesn’t really want and the direction her heart would take her.

cover of The Tatami Time Machine Blues by Tomihiko Morimi

The Tatami Time Machine Blues by Tomihiko Morimi translated by Emily Ballistrieri

Sequel to The Tatami Galaxy

The unnamed protagonist returns, now confronted with a hellish problem: the only air conditioning unit in his apartment building, which is in his possession, no longer works correctly after his worst friend, Ozu, spilled a soda on its remote. Then, a time traveler from 25 years in the future shows up, and the protagonist hits on the idea of taking the time machine back one day to rescue the AC remote…but in so doing, he discovers the end of the world is coming. And, worse, his secret crush Akashi is going to bring someone else to the upcoming bonfire.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

Crack Open a Can of Sci-Fi

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 16, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases for you, two ways. I’m going to keep this brief because I just turned in a book and my brain is soup and the words are not coming in so well, but I hope everyone had a wonderful week, and please keep that rolling into a wonderful weekend! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Indulge your inner book nerd and join a community of like-minded readers looking to expand their knowledge and their TBR. Subscribe to The Deep Dive, where Book Riot’s editorial staff draws from their collective expertise to bring you compelling stories, informed takes, tips, hacks, and more. Find out why the bestseller list is broken, analyze some anticipated books, and explore the great wide world of books and publishing. Get a free subscription for weekly content delivered to your inbox, or upgrade to paid-for bonus content and community features.

Bookish Goods

Sci Fi Soda Can Bookmarks by SupernovaComicArt

I know I’ve been on a bit of a bookmark kick lately, but that’s probably because all of my bookmarks are still in a box…somewhere. So, I’m at the stage of marking my pages with old receipts. Also, these are extremely cute! $4

New Releases

Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris

Rita, an artist, struggles with grief after the death of her estranged father; she never had a chance to ask him about his childhood and family or the Mi’kmaq culture she doesn’t know how to be part of. Then her girlfriend Molly gets her an artist’s residency for a week using a forged application — Rita would be angry, but it will put her in a cabin right where her father grew up. Soon, she’s being hit with dark visions from the swamp around the cabin, which she paints, which are leading her somewhere deep into the swamp’s decay.

Also, check out her poetry collection, Elegies of Rotting Stars.

Hellweg’s Keep by Justin Holley

FBI Agent Kendra Omen comes to the moon Zeta One after 37 miners disappear without a trace in a titanium mine…but that’s only the beginning of the strangeness that manifests. There are whispers, moving shadows, and even ghosts to go with evidence of occult practices going on in the dim hallways of the Hellweg Enterprises offices and in the mine. The answers lie below in a labyrinth half-made and half-natural, if Kendra can survive the journey.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Here are a couple of pretty new short story collections for your perusal!

Cover of At Night He Lifts Weights by Kang Young-sook

At Night He Lifts Weights by Kang Young-sook translated by Janet Hong

In this newly translated collection, Korean writer Kang Young-sook explores stories of loss and dark goings-on under a calm surface on the backdrop of an ecological dystopia.

My Worst Ideas by Michael Jeffrey Lee

Michael Jeffrey Lee has built a collection of short stories with a decidedly uncanny, dreamlike, and sometimes downright weird tone to go with his lyrical use of prose, exploring notions of growing unease and dislocation.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

This Week’s Most Exciting SFF New Releases

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 13, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got a double dose of new releases for you today. One set is first book/standalone, and the other two are sequels pretty far along in their respective series. Not sci-fi-related, but this weekend I saw the movie Killers of the Flower Moon, and it was…really good. It takes a lot for a movie to earn that kind of running time with me, and this one did it. I’d read the book before, but the film brings the focus much more on the Osage people, particularly Mollie Kyle (even if it still doesn’t manage to center the Osage experience because it arguably couldn’t ). And I’m reading a book about a very different movie: The Spice Must Flow. Lots of culture going on here this week! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Bookish Goods

a sticker with stripes of color, beginning with blue and white stripes at the bottom with more red stripes at the top

Climate Stripes Sticker by PinSaveTheClimate

Cory Doctorow’s new book (see below) has me thinking about climate change even more than normal, so I went looking for a bookmark. This is actually a sticker, but it promises to be a great conversation starter. $4

(If you’re not sure what the climate stripes are, the University of Reading has you covered.)

New Releases

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

Inez Olivera is a wealthy young woman in nineteenth-century Buenos Aires who has everything she wants…except for her parents, whose travels mean she’s always left behind. But when they tragically die, she’s sent (with her newly inherited fortune) to her new guardian, an archaeologist who is working with his own Egyptian brother-in-law. Inez arrives in Cairo with her sketch pads and an old golden ring her father left in her care — one whose magic will lead her to the truth of her parents’ deaths.

The Lost Cause by Cory Doctorow

In one generation, climate change, at last, goes from a fact contested by corporate interests to an inescapable reality that is at last getting the funding it needs — if perhaps too late. But while the younger people grapple with rebuilding society into something new that can endure, what of the angry old people, who are still being told by their alternate news source that the climate change happening around them is just a conspiracy and a scam?

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Here are a couple of new releases that are far along in their series, but they deserve attention!

System Collapse by Martha Wells

Murderbot returns, anxiously asking itself, “Am I making this worse?” Barish-Estranza Corp is sending a rescue ship with more SecUnits to help out the newly colonized planet, but Murderbot knows better than to trust any of this. It has other problems, though; there’s something wrong with its operating system, and ART and the human crew have their hands full enough trying to protect the colonists.

Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Everyone knows that Café Funiculi Funicula is actually quite magical: one of its off-menu items is an offer of time travel that could just help someone reunite with a lost love or find forgiveness with their estranged family. But time travel has risks. There are rules to follow, and there’s a new crop of customers looking to order.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

SFF Books by Veterans to Read On Veterans Day

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 9, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got two more new releases for you and a couple of recommendations for books written by veterans on this Veterans Day. I have spent an unseemly amount of time raking leaves, and boy, are my arms tired. All I can say is thank goodness for audiobooks. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and crunch some leaves! I’ll see you on Tuesday.

Power up your reading life with thoughtful writing on books and publishing, courtesy of The Deep Dive. Over at our Substack publication, you’ll find timely stories, informed takes, and useful advice from our in-house experts. We’re here to share our expertise and perspective, drawing from our backgrounds as booksellers, librarians, educators, authors, editors, and publishing professionals. Find out why the bestseller list is broken, analyze some anticipated books, and then get a free subscription for weekly content delivered to your inbox. You can also upgrade to paid-for bonus content and community features connecting you to like-minded readers.

Bookish Goods

Dragon Bookmark and Bookshelf Display by bubbithings

This absolutely gorgeous bookmark is made from PLA and inspired by Rebecca Yarros’s book Fourth Wing. I’m honestly a little in awe of how pretty it is. You can also get a bookmark stand to go with it so you can just display it on its own. Available in several color variations. $15

New Releases

Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park

This is an alternate history that supposes what might happen if the Korean Provisional Government that formed in 1919 to protest the Japanese occupation of their country persisted well after World War II instead of dissolving on the eve of the civil war that split Korea into north and south.

The Future by Naomi Alderman

Martha Einkorn fled her father’s cult in Oregon and eventually became an employee of a powerful social media mogul…which she’s begun to realize may be a cult of its own, or perhaps the true subject of her father’s apocalyptic fox and rabbit sermon. Her path crosses a Singaporean survivalist named Lai Zhen, who’s on the run from an assassin after a mysterious piece of software popped up on her phone and gave her an escape route.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

This year, for veteran’s day, I’ve got two book recommendations for you from authors who are military veterans! I will point you to JR Handley’s blog as well, where he has an interview series with SFF authors who are veterans. Handley is a SFF author himself who mostly writes quite intense military sci-fi, and he’s also written a book titled Vacuums Suck Hard!

The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo

The logline of the book kind of says it all: “Felix Gomez went to Iraq a soldier. He came back a vampire.”

Though his vampiric return isn’t the end of the story, only the beginning. Now, he’s an investigator trying to discover the truth behind an outbreak of nymphomania at a secret government research facility in Rocky Flats.

Star Nomad by Lindsay Buroker

Everyone in the Alliance is celebrating their victory over a tyrannical empire…except for Captain Alisa Marchenko, who got shot down in the final battle and is now stranded on a backwater dustball of a planet with no money, no resources, and no way to get home to her young daughter. She has a plan that’s only slightly suicidal: steal a malfunctioning freighter from a junkyard patrolled by lawless pirates. Except, even worse, she finds someone else has had the same idea as her, and he’s an elite cyborg soldier from the empire.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

SFF Sequels Worth Continuing

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 6, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got a double dose of new releases for you today: half standalones and half sequels because sequels need some love too. Gentle reminder that if you are in the U.S., it’s election day! Please vote if you haven’t yet! We’re in an off year, but those school board elections are super important for fighting back against the absolutely unhinged recent movement to ban books. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Bookish Goods

a photo of TBR cards with prompts like "Choose a book...which is a fake relationship trope"

TBR Cards by HeyBookLover

This deck of prompt cards is intended to help you overcome being frozen at the size of your TBR pile and get you to just pick a dang book to read! They’re very cute. $17

New Releases

The Princess of Thornwood Drive by Khalia Moreau

Laine’s parents were killed a year ago in a horrific car accident, which also left her younger sister paralyzed and nonverbal. Laine is struggling to make ends meet while battling predatory banks and a monstrous healthcare system. So when the Lake Forest Adult Day Center takes on Alyssa’s care for free, it’s a relief. Alyssa is still aware of what is happening around her…though in a very different reality. There was no car accident, to her mind. Rather, her parents were the king and queen of Mirendal, and a year ago, they were kidnapped, and she was placed under a curse. So, while Laine struggles to make ends meet, Alyssa will have to lead a battle that may destroy her and her sister — and their entire kingdom.

Cover of Bradbury Weather by Catlin R Kiernan

Bradbury Weather by Caitlín R. Kiernan

Caitlín R. Kiernan is mostly known as an author of horror and weird, but they’ve written quite a bit of science fiction. In this, their first sci-fi collection since 2009, nearly all of their short fiction that sits under the science fiction umbrella is at last in one place.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Today, I want to highlight a couple of sequels that have just come out; first books in series tend to get the most attention, but these are very worth continuing on to!

We Are the Crisis by Cadwell Turnbull

Sequel to No Gods, No Monsters. In the three years since the Monster Massacre, the world has changed a lot. Anti-monster groups have begun to organize, as have pro-monster organizations. Targeted killings of monsters and monster allies, kidnappings, both pro- and anti-monster legislation — all of these things call to question if there can be peace and if a new world can be built. Then, members of Rebecca’s old wolf pack begin to go missing while two ancient orders escalate their inscrutable conflict.

Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty

Sequel to Station Eternity. Mallory Viridian would really like it if people would stop mysteriously dying around her, leaving her to solve the case. But a serial killer followed her to Station Eternity when she was just trying to have a break, though she caught that person in the previous book. Now, more people are showing up to make her life complicated, including a law enforcement officer who was bugging her on Earth and two of her friends from high school. And, of course, someone on that latest shuttle gets murdered.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

How to Get Over the End of the World

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 2, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! I’m Alex, and it’s…somehow already November? Where the heck did October even go? Well, here we’ve had our first snow of the season and a fun Halloween with some cute trick-or-treaters. For you today, I’ve got new releases, and a last couple of indie releases over from October that I didn’t want you to miss. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Bookish Goods

MCRN Coffee Mug by FictionalMugs

This is a fun reference to The Expanse series — MCRN is the Mars Congressional Republic Navy. Comes in black or white. And you can get an OPA mug to go with it! $25

New Releases

Shanghai Immortal by A.Y. Chao

Lady Jing is half-vampire, half-fox spirit, and one hundred percent attitude thanks to her mother pawning her to the King of Hell as a child to pay a debt. After 90 years of being a minor servant, she’s mostly learned to control her temper. But when she overhears some courtiers plotting to steal from the king, she takes it as her chance to rise above her station, so long as she has an airtight case. She just needs the help of a mortal whose actual job is to set up the Central Bank of Hell…and she’ll drag both of them through Hell and Jazz-age Shanghai to get the information she needs.

Cover of Communications Breakdown edited by Jonathan Strahan

Communications Breakdown: SF Stories About the Future of Connection edited by Jonathan Strahan

In this anthology, editor Jonathan Strahan has asked famous and familiar science fiction authors what communication will look like in the future and how it may well change — even if the fundamental human need to connect does not.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Here are a couple more cool indie releases that came out in October to check out!

Off-Time Jive by A.Z. Louise

In an alternate Harlem Renaissance, Black artists are creating new forms of magic, and Bessie Knox is an investigator who specializes in just that, even though her own abilities are fading. But when her old colleagues start turning up dead, she needs to use every skill at her disposal if she doesn’t want to be next.

How to Get Over the End of the World by Hal Schrieve

James is a goth, gay, trans stoner who is in his last year of high school — and he cannot wait to get out. He’s sliding by on his classes and focusing on punk shows and fundraising for Compton House, the local LGBTQ+ support group. But when he meets and falls in love with Orsino, he needs to ask himself if the world and its possibilities are bigger than he’s imagined…and Orsino hopes that he’s finally found someone who can accept his telepathic powers and the apocalyptic visions of the future he experiences.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

Halloween Vibes Up to 11

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 30, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Halloween, shipmates! Oh, and I guess it’s Tuesday as well, technically speaking. It’s Alex, and I have turned the Halloween vibes up to eleven over here — so be aware that today’s book recommendations are definitely on the dark-to-horror side of SFF. Colorado’s annual Halloween snowstorm managed to miss the mark by a few days, so we might get to see some trick-or-treaters who aren’t wearing their costumes under little snowsuits…here’s hoping! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I hope you have enough candy on hand! I’ll see you on Friday.

Autumn is here, which means it’s time to curl up with a great read and get cozy — whatever your version of cozy looks like. Whether it’s romance, creepy reads, modern classics, or escapist reads you crave, TBR can help you find the perfect books for your fall reading, with options curated to your specific reading tastes.

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.

Bookish Goods

Black Cat Suncatcher by Artixcraft

You can’t expect me to let the official birthday of all black cats go by without one more neat black cat thing! This wooden suncatcher is absolutely gorgeous (and can be personalized). $18

New Releases

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

In June of 1950, 12-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sent to an infamous reformatory school for the crime of kicking the son of the largest landowner in town for harassing his older sister. But with him, Robbie brings an unusual skill; he can see haints (ghosts). It’s something that once brought him comfort after the death of his mother, but now it reveals the horrifying truth of the Gracetown School for Boys.

A Season of Monstrous Conceptions by Lina Rather

Sarah Davis is a midwife’s apprentice with uncanny secrets that sent her fleeing to London. When unnatural babies begin to be born across the city, ones with webbed fingers and toes and the dark eyes of fish, she well knows what is going on. But she keeps her head down still…until she is hired by the wealthy Lady Wren and discovers that her husband, a famous architect, has his own obsession with the uncanny that might well unmake the earth…

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

This…is…Halloween! And to celebrate, we’re doing a second helping of spooky recent releases, these ones from small and indie publishers!

An Ordinary Violence by Adriana Chartrand

Dawn is forced back to her old home in a tiny prairie city haunted by the pain of her fractured family when her big city life implodes. Worse, her brother Cody, to whom she has not spoken since he was sent to prison seven years ago, is out…and he has a mysterious new friend. Soon, Dawn discovers increasingly sinister evidence that Cody and his friend are reaching into the supernatural world.

Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

Henley’s Edge is a quiet, peaceful small town in Connecticut…one where there’s been a string of mysterious disappearances. For a grieving widower sheltering a dark secret, these draw him into the orbit of Heart Crowley, who wants followers for a dark magic ritual. For local law enforcement, these are ordinary crimes to be solved, and the investigator soon finds a deep well of unbridled hatred and bigotry at the heart of it all.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

Curl Up with a Black Cat This Halloween

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 26, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’m crunching through the fallen leaves to bring you more new releases and more books about black cats! Holy heck, we’re less than a week from Halloween. Sound the candy corn siren! My dream is that someday, I will have the money to give trick-or-treaters both candy and a random paperback. Some day. Have a great weekend, space pirates, and I will see you on Tuesday for the best night of the year!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Maui Aloha: The People’s Response, which sends support to those affected by the wildfires on Maui, particularly first responders; and Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.

Bookish Goods

Black Cat Book Sleeve by BooksAndStitchesCo

I’ve begun to really like book sleeves, which are essential when carrying books in full laptop bags, say. (Also, they sometimes fit a tablet quite nicely.) This one is very cute, and has black cats on it! My favorite. $22

New Releases

Jewel Box: Stories by E. Lily Yu

Twenty-two short stories comprise this collection from the winner of the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. E. Lily Yu brings compassion and beautiful prose to stories about strange occurrences and monsters.

Christmas and Other Horrors: A Winter Solstice Anthology edited by Ellen Datlow

Finally, a marriage of winter holidays and Halloween in the form of horror. The stories — written by Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, Garth Nix, and many more — bring in a wealth of place and tradition to what horrors lurk without and within when families gather together and huddle against the cold.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

More black cats!!

Sailor Moon Short Stories 2 by Naoko Takeuchi

I think my love of Naoko Takeuchi and her creation of Sailor Moon is well known at this point, but Luna is one of the best black cats out there…and this short story collection has one all about her! It’s based on an old Japanese folktale, “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter,” and it’s ADORABLE.

The Ninth Life by Clea Simon

This book sits at the junction of cozy mystery and animal fantasy, with the hero and chief investigator a black cat named…well, Blackie. He has no memories of the time before he was rescued by a street kid named Care in a ruined city; he’s on a quest to protect his savior, help her solve the mystery of her mentor’s murder, and recover his own past.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

Speculative Short Stories and Things That Go Hiss in the Night

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 23, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! We’re one week out from the best day of the best month (Halloween!), and I’m (…me, I’m Alex, hi, as usual) here with two short story collections and recommendations for books starring black cats! This also means that I survived moving this weekend and did not get lost in a maze of cardboard boxes, never to be seen again, so thank you to everyone who spared a thought for the horrors of boxing up all one’s belongings and dragging them to another geographical location. Have a wonderful week, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Bookish Goods

Black Cat Enamel Bookmark by PineappleSundaysCo

This enamel clip bookmark is adorable! I love the little black cat. Even better is the message: Hiss off, I’m reading. (This seller also has a bookmark that reads “Not meow, I’m reading.” Yes, the cat puns!) $15

New Releases

Cover of Between Dystopias: The Road to Afropantheology

Between Dystopias: The Road to Afropantheology by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Joshua Uchenna Omenga

This two-author collection of stories (short to novella in length) and essays explores African mysticism and dystopia, separately and in concert.

Cover of The Privilege of the Happy Ending: Small, Medium, and Large Stories

The Privilege of the Happy Ending: Small, Medium, and Large Stories by Kij Johnson

This collection is built from stories written by Kij Johnson over the last decade in formats ranging from traditional to experimental, focused on topics such as gender, animals, and the nature of stories themselves. It includes the award-winning The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe and the title work, as well as two entirely new stories.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

It is a well-known fact that October is the official birthday (a month-long birthday!) of all black cats. So this week, we’re looking at speculative fiction starring black cats!

The Wildings by Nilanjana Roy

A small band of feral cats lives in an old neighborhood in Delhi named Nizamuddin. They communicate with other bands of cats via something akin to a telepathic link, learning the news of the day and otherwise doing as they please…until an orange kitten with green eyes tumbles into their lives, who has unprecedented and strange powers. This special kitten is the herald of much more dire things to come…

The Thirteen Black Cats of Edith Penn by Sean McDonough

Edith Penn was well known as a witch in the small town of New Birmingham, never spoken to directly, but always the one sought out when a potion or spell was needed. But she’s dead now, and she’s only the first. No one knows how many will die, how it will all end or why…except for Edith’s 13 black cats.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.